Road Tripping in the USA!

Illgresi · 21 May 2018 at 13:45

Joe T said:
If you book via the UK website of one of the big companies (Hertz or Alamo are recommended) then you get everything you need (insurance, excess waiver) as standard. Dont bother with any of the additional services like enhanced breakdown or other insurances. Be careful with companies like Enterprise that cater more to the domestic market where insurance may not be included (domestic drivers use their own insurance for car rentals).

Thanks for the advice!

Hertz website doesn't seem to be working, and Alamo's only pickup location in LA is LAX, so I can't use them. Need a downtown collection. What about Avis?

[TW]Fox · 21 May 2018 at 13:52

Illgresi said:
and Alamo's only pickup location in LA is LAX, so I can't use them.

They have locations all over LA?

Illgresi · 21 May 2018 at 13:53

Website doesn't give me the option? Odd.

Peerzy · 21 May 2018 at 14:25

Use UK broker websites such as;

USCarHire
CarHire3000
Virgin Holiday Cars

They will often offer you the same cars but much cheaper and still include all the required insurances.

Joe T · 21 May 2018 at 16:01

[TW]Fox said:
They have locations all over LA?

https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-ren...US/state=US_CA/city=US_US_CA_Los Angeles.html

Joe T · 21 May 2018 at 16:02

If the direct websites seems expensive compared to brokers make sure you take into account cashback (e.g. Quidco), as that can make a significant difference.

b0rn2sk8 · 21 May 2018 at 16:15

Joe T said:
If the direct websites seems expensive compared to brokers make sure you take into account cashback (e.g. Quidco), as that can make a significant difference.

It baffles me how many normal people regularly shop online and don’t use sites like quidco. Though I guess they are the same people that don’t switch their gas, electricity and insurance every year either!

Pen66 · 21 May 2018 at 17:24

Peerzy said:
Use UK broker websites such as;

USCarHire
CarHire3000
Virgin Holiday Cars

They will often offer you the same cars but much cheaper and still include all the required insurances.

Care hire through Virgin Holidays worked out the cheapest by far by about 20-30% (vs direct through Alamo (which is who Virgin use), Hertz etc) when I booked last year. The price included all the required taxes and cover, so no unwanted surprises when picking the car up.

Roland Butter · 22 May 2018 at 15:15

Peerzy said:
Use UK broker websites such as;

USCarHire
CarHire3000
Virgin Holiday Cars

They will often offer you the same cars but much cheaper and still include all the required insurances.

Beware, these UK companies cannot guarantee that the US hire company [ Alamo, Dollar, Enterprise ] will supply
the make, model and class of car that you thought you were getting.

I recently paid for a full sized Camry yet when I arrived at Newark the staff said all the full sized
cars were gone [ a downright lie ] and a intermediate sized Cruze was what I got.

To guarantee the make and model it's best to go straight to the car hire companies.

Peerzy · 22 May 2018 at 15:33

Roland Butter said:
Beware, these UK companies cannot guarantee that the US hire company [ Alamo, Dollar, Enterprise ] will supply
the make, model and class of car that you thought you were getting.

I recently paid for a full sized Camry yet when I arrived at Newark the staff said all the full sized
cars were gone [ a downright lie ] and a intermediate sized Cruze was what I got.

To guarantee the make and model it's best to go straight to the car hire companies.

I've never heard of that before nor experienced it?

Once the booking is made with one of these companies (Virgin Holiday Cars for example) you get an official Alamo booking confirmation (as if you'd booked directly) and can deal directly with them for things like skip the queue and extras.

It sounds like what you experienced would have happened regardless of who you booked with and they clearly didn't want to give you the class you booked (I hope you got a partial refund as they should have upgraded you to a higher class for free as is standard practice).

b0rn2sk8 · 22 May 2018 at 15:50

Yes you should have been given the teir up not down.

Roland Butter · 22 May 2018 at 16:23

Peerzy said:
I've never heard of that before nor experienced it?

Once the booking is made with one of these companies (Virgin Holiday Cars for example) you get an official Alamo booking confirmation (as if you'd booked directly) and can deal directly with them for things like skip the queue and extras.

It sounds like what you experienced would have happened regardless of who you booked with and they clearly didn't want to give you the class you booked (I hope you got a partial refund as they should have upgraded you to a higher class for free as is standard practice).

Nope, any upgrade was to be paid for, it was obvious they regard the voucher as a non money making exercise
especially if you turn down all the optional extras, I prepaid for a full tank of gas and found out the tank was only half full.
I also returned the car 3 hours late and was charged £66, so steer clear of A*v*n*age car hire.

Peerzy · 22 May 2018 at 17:55

Roland Butter said:
Nope, any upgrade was to be paid for, it was obvious they regard the voucher as a non money making exercise
especially if you turn down all the optional extras, I prepaid for a full tank of gas and found out the tank was only half full.
I also returned the car 3 hours late and was charged £66, so steer clear of A*v*n*age car hire.

Without sounding rude I think they saw you coming.

It's company policy across all of the big US car hire firms that when a car isn't available you are offered the class above for free.

All of my bookings through brokers have resulted in me having a login to the Alamo website and an Alamo receipt with voucher which has got me exactly what I paid for without issue. I've used the Alamo website to add extras and also complete the jump the queue feature.

Returning the car late would just incur the standard daily rate at which you booked for.

I've never heard of 'A*v*n*age car hire' though and the above is is applicable to the big companies (Avis, Budget, Alamo, National, Hertz etc....).

Joe T · 22 May 2018 at 18:00

Peerzy said:
I've never heard of 'A*v*n*age car hire' though and the above is is applicable to the big companies (Avis, Budget, Alamo, National, Hertz etc....).

It may be that the broker he used works in a different way. Regardless, if you Google them the reviews are not great.

Roland Butter · 22 May 2018 at 18:49

Peerzy said:
It's company policy across all of the big US car hire firms that when a car isn't available you are offered the class above for free.

Does it say that in the T&Cs ?

Peerzy · 22 May 2018 at 19:21

Roland Butter said:
Does it say that in the T&Cs ?

Yes.

I won't go through them all but Budget were the first company I checked;

"As a matter of policy, customer service agents extend a free upgrade to a customer when the car size that the customer reserved is not available."

Ahleckz · 4 Jun 2018 at 14:45

I've never rented a car abroad before, and I'm a bit concerned about getting wildly ripped off by something.

I've found the following deal on the UK Enterprise website for a 4 day hire in Canada in September:

VEHICLE
PickupFord F150 Super Crew Or Similar - Automatic £ 104.14
Unlimited Mileage Included
TAXES & FEES
LEARN MORE
Premium Location Charge 15.47 Pct (15.47%) £ 16.48
Vlf Rec 1.38/Day £ 2.40
Harmonized Sales Tax (15.0%) £ 18.45
ESTIMATED TOTAL
£141.47
You will be charged in CAD (CAD 244.52)Learn More

This seems very cheap to me (a Kia Rio is £57.86 a day), and looking at Avis & Alamo it's a lot cheaper than them. Are there other costs involved that I've not factored in?

Joe T · 4 Jun 2018 at 14:55

As per my post earlier in this thread it's possible that Enterprise are not including the correct insurances, as they cater primarily to the domestic rather than tourist market.

I'd stick with Alamo or Hertz personally.

Plus, I wouldnt get a pickup as you dont really have anywhere secure or hidden for luggage.

Ahleckz · 4 Jun 2018 at 15:22

Joe T said:
As per my post earlier in this thread it's possible that Enterprise are not including the correct insurances, as they cater primarily to the domestic rather than tourist market.

I'd stick with Alamo or Hertz personally.

Plus, I wouldnt get a pickup as you dont really have anywhere secure or hidden for luggage.

Is there any way to obviously find this out, or is it only going to be once I get to the desk to pick up the car? Are Enterprise notorious for this sort of thing? From what I can tell, the compulsory insurances are there but if I wanted damage waiver I'd have to pay that. But obviously never having rented a car abroad I've got no real clue. I've read through all the T&Cs that I can find and it doesn't state anywhere that I need any extra insurance...

I thought a pickup would be fun and appropriate for driving around Nova Scotia and I'm holidaying with hand luggage only so hiding stuff isn't a requirement, but looking at it I can get a Hyundai Elantra for £15 a day cheaper so that probably wins out.

Joe T · 4 Jun 2018 at 16:41

You probably want a Damage Waiver for this kind of thing. I'm not all that clued up on the exact insurances, so I always play it safe with Alamo/Hertz.